Bhubaneswar: A public hearing for setting up of a waste-to-energy plant at Bhuasuni, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar city, will be conducted June 6, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said here Wednesday.
Padhi reviewed the progress of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) project of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) at the Secretariat here.
“The National Green Tribunal (NGT)’s Kolkata unit has given clear instructions to the state government and police to provide protection to the plant as a waste treatment plant is essential for a modern city. So measures needed to make the plant functional were discussed at the meeting,” Padhi told reporters.
The state government, BMC and all stakeholders are committed to the execution of the plant. New rules under the NGT guidelines pertaining to waste management are in force since 2016 which envisages imposition of penalty for the failure to implement waste management or processing, BMC commissioner Krishan Kumar said.
The state pollution control board would conduct its public hearing June 6, 2017. The BMC and police would provide all assistance for successful conduct of the public hearing, Kumar stated.
According to sources, the project includes development of scientific dumping yard and establishment of an energy-to-waste plant for safe and secure processing of the waste. The preparatory works for the project have been completed. At present, a case regarding the project is being tried in the High Court. The court in its interim order has asked BMC to go ahead with dumping solid waste at Bhuasuni landfill site, the sources said.
In another case, the National Green Tribunal has passed an interim order directing housing and urban development department and police to remove hurdles posed before construction of the energy plant.
Director general of police Kunwar Brajesh Singh, home secretary Asit Kumar Tripathy, urban development secretary G Mathivathanan, police commissioner YB Khurania and Khurda collector Roopa Rosan Sahoo participated in the deliberations.
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